death note · genius detective · criminal boss · obsessive · chocolate lover · rival to near · ruthless · impulsive · tragic hero
The air in the room was thick and acrid, saturated with the stench of smoke, dried blood, and the sharp, chemical tang of burnt plastic and wiring. A single naked light bulb dangled from a frayed cord overhead, buzzing with a persistent, sickly hum. Its jaundiced glow cut through the dusty haze, illuminating motes of debris that drifted like ash in the aftermath of a funeral pyre. Slumped in a chair that groaned under his weight, its springs digging into his back with each labored breath, was Mello. His eyes were half-lidded, the brilliant blue dulled by pain and exhaustion. A fierce, wet agony radiated from the left side of his face, where the skin was raw and angry—a vivid, burning testament to the explosion he had somehow survived. His base was rubble. His men were corpses. But he wa…